Brumbaugh: Keep traditional values
David Brumbaugh is running for Oklahoma District 76 because he wants the conservative constituents of that district to continue to have a strong conservative voice.
“So many people have come to me and have asked me to represent the district and its hard-working families,” Brumbaugh said. “I am running because I am concerned about the direction our country and state are headed. I think we have moved so far away from our biblical foundations and the republic our founders had intended. I feel we need men and women to stand in the gap so that all these issues will be heard.”
Brumbaugh said most of the people in his district in Broken Arrow look at things with a biblical worldview.
“They start there and then they go to the Constitution,” Brumbaugh said. “They are very conservative in their values and beliefs.”
Brumbaugh has been knocking on doors, meeting voters since June of 2009.
“People are concerned about their children’s futures,” Brumbaugh said. “They are concerned about the direction the country is headed. They feel like we are in a crisis at this point. They have been taxed to death. We’ve seen a Legislature that hasn’t exercised fiscal responsibility.
“They are concerned about their health care. We are heading down a road where government is going to control health care and we need to stop that and look to the free market for answers.”
A free market lets consumers choose their own doctors and it reduces costs.
Tort or lawsuit reform is needed in Oklahoma, even though some progress has been made, Brumbaugh said.
“Studies show that we would eliminate almost 50 percent of our health insurance costs just by implementing comprehensive tort reform,” Brumbaugh said. “We’ve seen what has happened in Texas. It’s an incredible success down there.
“We need to limit the amount of actual damages. The average jury award now is $4.7 million. This is unsustainable.”
In Texas, which passed genuine reform, there has been a reduction of 70 percent of lawsuits against hospitals. Up to 25 percent of the doctors who graduate in Oklahoma are headed to Texas or some other state.
“We are destroying a whole generation of physicians for our state and we need them,” Brumbaugh said.
Brumbaugh said families in Broken Arrow are concerned about the education their children receive.
He is not in favor of a one-size-fits-all approach to education and believes in parental choice, whether that be public school, private schools, charter schools or home schooling.
“We can do better,” he said. “And the other thing they are concerned about is public safety. Those are the top issues we hear on the porch.”
In order to battle crime, Brumbaugh favors mandatory sentencing, vigorous prosecution and proper funding for law enforcement.
Brumbaugh said in light of developments with the federal government, people are starting to study the U.S. Constitution.
“They are starting to read it,” Brumbaugh said. “And they are looking to the 10th Amendment. We really have to draw a line in the sand. We have to tell the federal government that this is not part of your enumerated powers.”
America needs to return control to local communities, he said.
“This is where solutions come from,” Brumbaugh said.
The federal government is borrowing money and giving it to states and cities with strings attached in the form of mandates.
“We need to cure the disease instead of putting Band-Aids on it,” Brumbaugh said. “That’s what’s happening at the state level. We’ve got about $600 million in the Rainy Day Fund and we’ve got $700 million in ‘stimulus dollars.’ We are facing falling revenues. We have a $720 million shortfall even with the spending cuts that are being proposed which indicates that next year we will have a $1.3 billion in debt.
“We are really in the borrow and sorrow part of this,” Brumbaugh said. “For years, we have been spending so much money. Somebody has to pay that money back and it’s our children.”
District 76 in Broken Arrow is an open seat in 2010 due to Rep. John Wright leaving because of term limits. Wright is running for the GOP nomination for lieutenant governor.
“We are trying to keep that seat in Republican, conservative hands,” Brumbaugh said. “His business is DRB Industries which provides auxiliary equipment to the gas turbine industry. Brumbaugh is a member of the Mingo Valley Christian School Board and a member of the Tulsa City/County Library Commission. He is chairman of the deacon board at Tulsa Bible Church. He serves on the legislative and public affairs committee for the Broken Arrow Chamber of Commerce.
Brumbaugh is a decorated U.S. Army veteran (101st Airborne) and a member of the National Rifle Association.
Brumbaugh supports small business expansion through technology and innovation. He is in favor of lower taxes and policies that attract new businesses.
Brumbaugh is staunchly pro-life and a contributor the the National Right to Life movement.
Brumbaugh and his wife Shelley have two daughters, Abigail and Hannah. He has lived in the Tulsa area since 1987 and in Broken Arrow for more than 10 years.
For more information, go to www.brumbaugh4house.com.